Method and apparatus for controlling operations of devices based on information regarding power consumption of the devices

ABSTRACT

A method of controlling operations of a participating controlled device in a network that includes a control device and the participating controlled device, the method including: receiving operation limiting information from the participating controlled device, the operation limiting information including combinations of allowed operations from among a plurality of operations that the participating controlled device is capable of performing, and power consumption levels that are relative amounts of power consumption of the combinations of allowed operations; setting a power consumption level corresponding to the participating controlled device, from among the power consumption levels, based on information regarding time-based price and the operation limiting information; and controlling the operations of the participating controlled device based on the set power consumption level.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/013,404 filedJan. 25, 2011, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 61/297,943, filed on Jan. 25, 2010 in the U.S. Patent and TrademarkOffice, and claims priority from Korean Patent Application No.10-2010-0022951, filed on Mar. 15, 2010 in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein intheir entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate tocontrolling the operations of devices, and more particularly, tocontrolling the operations of devices based on information regardingpower consumption of the devices.

2. Description of the Related Art

A smart grid is a new concept of a grid, in which information andcommunication technology is grafted onto a unidirectional energy supplysystem including power generation, power transmission/distribution, andsales so that real-time information can be bi-directionally exchangedbetween a power supplier and a consumer, thereby optimizing energyefficiency.

The smart grid uses a concept of demand response (DR) where the consumeruses power aside from his/her general consumption in response to aprice, a monetary reward, or directions of a power generation company.Accordingly, the power supplier may induce or suppress electricityconsumption during a desired time period, and the customer may consumeelectricity at a low price.

In a related art, a control device that received information about atime-based price may turn on or off home appliances connected to thecontrol device with or without wires in order to control powerconsumption in such a smart grid.

SUMMARY

One or more exemplary embodiments provide a method and apparatus forcontrolling the operations of devices based on information regardingpower consumption thereof.

According to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there is provided amethod of controlling operations of a participating controlled device ina network that includes a control device and at least one participatingcontrolled device, the method including: receiving operation limitinginformation from the participating controlled device, the operationlimiting information including combinations of allowed operations fromamong a plurality of operations that the participating controlled deviceis capable of performing, and power consumption levels that are relativeamounts of power consumption of the combinations of allowed operations;setting a power consumption level corresponding to the participatingcontrolled device, based on information regarding time-based price andthe operation limiting information; and controlling the operations ofthe participating controlled device based on the set power consumptionlevel.

The operation limiting information may further include information on atleast one of amounts of power consumption to perform the combinations ofallowed operations, minimum operating times to perform the combinationsof allowed operations, and users' preferences for the combinations ofallowed operations.

The method may further include registering a non-participatingcontrolled device that is not included in the network with the network.

The registering the non-participating controlled device with the networkmay include: receiving a join request frame for requesting to join thenetwork from the non-participating controlled device; and transmitting ajoin response frame approving the request to join the network to thenon-participating controlled device.

The registering the non-participating controlled device with the networkmay further include: receiving device information regarding thenon-participating controlled device from the non-participatingcontrolled device; outputting a user interface via which a response asto whether the non-participating controlled device is to be registeredis received, based on the device information; receiving the response asto whether the non-participating controlled device is to be registered,via the user interface; and selectively transmitting a registrationinforming frame indicating that the non-participating controlled devicehas been registered to the non-participating controlled device, based onthe received response.

The receiving the join request frame may include receiving the joinrequest frame from the non-participating controlled device to which anidentifier of the network is input or that receives the identifier ofthe network.

The receiving the join request frame may include receiving the joinrequest frame from the non-participating controlled device thattransmits the join request frame to a network having a strongest networksignal from among the network that includes the at least oneparticipating controlled device and at least one other network.

The receiving the join request frame may include: receiving the joinrequest frame from the non-participating controlled device thattransmits the join request frame to a network that transmits aregistration standby signal to the non-participating controlled devicefrom among the network that includes the at least one participatingcontrolled device and at least one other network, and the registrationstandby signal indicates that the network stands by to receive the joinrequest frame.

The method may further include: checking whether a power cut-off hasoccurred suddenly before the control device is powered on, when thecontrol device is powered on; reading or receiving, from at least one ofthe control device, an external server, and the at least oneparticipating controlled device, information on at least one of theoperation limiting information, an identifier of the network,identifiers of the at least one participating controlled device, timeswhen the at least one participating controlled device initially begin tooperate, final power consumption levels of the at least oneparticipating controlled device, actual amounts of power consumption ofthe at least one participating controlled device before the powercut-off has occurred suddenly, an accumulated amount of powerconsumption of the at least one participating controlled device,priorities allocated to the at least one participating controlleddevice, current operating states of the at least one participatingcontrolled device, and information regarding time-based price, when ifit is determined that the power cut-off has occurred suddenly; resettingthe power consumption level corresponding to the participatingcontrolled device, based on the read or received information and theinformation regarding time-based price; and controlling the operationsof the participating controlled device based on the reset powerconsumption level.

The at least one piece of information may be received in an encryptedform.

The method may further include setting a maximum rate of power that theat least one participating controlled device are capable of consumingfor a predetermined amount of time, wherein the setting the powerconsumption levels may be performed based on the maximum power rate.

The controlling the operations of the participating controlled devicemay include: controlling a participating controlled device having ahighest priority from among the at least one participating controlleddevice to operate according to a power consumption level at which theparticipating controlled device having the highest priority consumes alargest amount of power from among power consumption levels of theparticipating controlled device having the highest priority; andcontrolling participating controlled devices having a same priority fromamong the at least one participating controlled device to operateaccording to a same power consumption level from among power consumptionlevels of the participating controlled devices having the same priority.

According to an aspect of another exemplary embodiment, there isprovided an apparatus for controlling operations of a participatingcontrolled device in a network that includes a control device and atleast one participating controlled device, the apparatus including: areceiver which receives operation limiting information from theparticipating controlled device, the operation limiting informationincluding combinations of allowed operations from among a plurality ofoperations that the participating controlled device is capable ofperforming, and power consumption levels that are relative amounts ofpower consumption of the combinations of allowed operations; a powerconsumption level setting unit which sets a power consumption levelcorresponding to the participating controlled device, based oninformation regarding time-based price and the operation limitinginformation; and an operation control unit which controls the operationsof the participating controlled device based on the set powerconsumption level.

The apparatus may further include: a registration unit which registers anon-participating controlled device that is not included in the networkwith the network, if the receiver receives a join request framerequesting to join the network from the non-participating controlleddevice; and a transmission unit which transmits a join response frameapproving the request to join the network to the non-participatingcontrolled device according to an instruction from the registrationunit.

If the receiver receives device information regarding thenon-participating controlled device from the non-participatingcontrolled device, the apparatus may further include: an interfacemanager which outputs a user interface via which a response as towhether the non-participating controlled device is to be registered isreceived, based on the device information.

If the response as to whether the non-participating controlled device isto be registered is received via the user interface, the transmissionunit may selectively transmit, to the non-participating controlleddevice, a registration informing frame indicating that thenon-participating controlled device has been registered, based on thereceived response.

According to an aspect of another exemplary embodiment, there isprovided a computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon acomputer program for executing a method of controlling operations of aparticipating controlled device in a network that includes a controldevice and at least one participating controlled device, the methodincluding: receiving operation limiting information from theparticipating controlled device, where the operation limitinginformation includes combinations of allowed operations from among aplurality of operations that the participating controlled device iscapable of performing, and power consumption levels that are relativeamounts of power consumption of the combinations of allowed operations;setting a power consumption level corresponding to the participatingcontrolled device, based on information regarding time-based price andthe operation limiting information; and controlling the operations ofthe participating controlled device based on the set power consumptionlevel.

According to an aspect of another exemplary embodiment, there isprovided a method of controlling operations of a participatingcontrolled device in a network that includes a control device and theparticipating controlled device, the method including: transmitting,from the participating controlled device, operation limiting informationincluding combinations of allowed operations from among operations thatthe participating controlled device is capable of performing, and powerconsumption levels that are relative amounts of power consumption of thecombinations of allowed operations; and controlling the operations ofthe participating controlled device based on a set power consumptionlevel, from among the power consumption levels, that is set by thecontrol device based on information regarding time-based price and theoperation limiting information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects will become more apparent by describingin detail exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawingsin which:

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling operations ofdevices included in a network, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a table illustrating a structure of operation limitinginformation according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling operations ofdevices included in a network, according to another exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of registering anon-participating controlled device with a network, according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of allowing a control deviceto reset power consumption levels of respective participating controlleddevices after a power cut-off occurs suddenly, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating participatingcontrolled devices according to power consumption levels thereof thatare reset after a power cut-off occurred suddenly, according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an apparatus for controlling operations ofdevices, according to an exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an apparatus for controlling operations ofdevices, according to another exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings. Expressions such as “at leastone of,” when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire list ofelements and do not modify the individual elements of the list.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling operations ofdevices included in a network, according to an exemplary embodiment. Inthe current exemplary embodiment, it is assumed that the networkincludes a control device and a plurality of participating controlleddevices, and the control device controls the operations of theparticipating controlled devices in the network.

Referring to FIG. 1, in operation 110, operation limiting information isreceived from each of the participating controlled devices. Theoperation limiting information includes information regardingcombinations of allowed operations from among operations that may beperformed by the participating controlled devices, and power consumptionlevels that are relative amounts of power consumed by the respectivecombinations of allowed operations.

The operation limiting information may further include information on atleast one of the amounts of power consumed by the respectivecombinations of allowed operations, minimum operating times needed toperform the combinations of allowed operations, and users' preferencesfor the combinations of allowed operations. The operation limitinginformation may be stored in the participating controlled devices whenthe participating controlled devices were manufactured. According to anexemplary embodiment, the participating controlled devices are capableof performing a bi-directional communication with the control device ina wired or wireless manner, and are constructed in such a way that theirallowed operations are limited according to a power consumption level.According to another exemplary embodiment, each of the participatingcontrolled devices can measure an actual amount of power consumptionthereof.

In being capable of performing a bi-directional communication with thecontrol device, the participating controlled devices can inform thecontrol device of the actual amounts of power consumption thereof andthe control device can inform the participating controlled devices ofpower consumption levels corresponding to the actual amounts of powerconsumption so that the control device may control the operations of theparticipating controlled devices by using a smart grid. In this case,the participating controlled devices themselves may measure the actualamounts of power consumption thereof as described above, or anadditional device may be provided in the participating controlleddevices so as to measure the actual amounts of power consumption via theadditional device.

Examples of the participating controlled devices include variousdevices, e.g., a washing machine, an air conditioner, a refrigerator, aflashlight, a hair drier, a mobile phone charger, a computer, a notebookcomputer, etc., which may communicate with an in-home control device.

The control device is capable of performing a bi-directionalcommunication with the participating controlled devices and controllingthe participating controlled devices. Examples of the control deviceincludes various devices, e.g., a Wallpad, a set-up box, a computer, anotebook computer, a mobile device, a media center, etc., which canperform a bi-directional communication with the participating controlleddevices and can control the participating controlled devices.

The network to which the control device and the participating controlleddevices belong may be a wired network, such as a Pipe Line Communication(PLC) network, an Ethernet network, etc., or a wireless network, such asa Bluetooth network, a Wi-Fi network, a ZigBee network, etc.

A structure of operation limiting information according to an exemplaryembodiment will now be described with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a table illustrating a structure of operation limitinginformation according to an exemplary embodiment. In the currentexemplary embodiment, it is assumed that a participating controlleddevice is a washing machine, though it is understood that anotherexemplary embodiment is not limited thereto. Referring to FIG. 2, theoperation limiting information includes a power consumption level field210, a power consumption amount field 220, a minimum operating timefield 230, a preference field 240, and an allowed operation combinationfield 250.

In the power consumption level field 210, power consumption levels ofrelative amounts of power consumption corresponding to combinations ofallowed operations of the washing machine, which are listed in theallowed operation combination field 250, are listed. Referring to thepower consumption level field 210 in FIG. 2, the power consumptionlevels range from 1 to 4 according to the relative amounts of powerconsumption. In this case, the greater a relative amount of powerconsumption, the lower a power consumption level, though anotherexemplary embodiment is not limited thereto.

For example, in the power consumption level field 210 of FIG. 2, thepower consumption level 1 corresponds to a maximum amount of powerconsumption.

In the power consumption amount field 220, the amounts of powerconsumption corresponding to the first to fourth combinations of allowedoperations are listed.

Referring to FIG. 2, the amounts of power consumption corresponding tothe first to fourth combinations of allowed operations are 1.13 kWh,0.14 kWh, 0.11 kWh, and 0.019 kWh, respectively. In this case, theamounts of power consumption listed in the power consumption amountfield 220 may be initial values recorded by a manufacturer of thewashing machine during the manufacture of the washing machine.

According to another exemplary embodiment, amounts of power consumptioncorresponding to the first to fourth combinations of allowed operationslisted in the allowed operation combination field 250 may be measured bythe washing machine itself or another device and may be recorded in thepower consumption amount field 220.

In the minimum operating time field 230, minimum operating times toperform the respective first to fourth combinations of allowedoperations are listed.

In the current exemplary embodiment, the minimum operating times toperform the respective first to fourth combinations of allowedoperations are 200 minutes, 120 minutes, 60 minutes, and 13 minutes.

In the preference field 240, a power consumption level to which usersprefer from among the power consumption levels 1 to 4 listed in thepower consumption level field 210 is listed.

However, if the washing machine is a brand-new product, then it may bedifficult for the manufacturer to know the users' preference and thusthe power consumption level 3 may be recorded as an initial value in thepreference field 240, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

A user may replace a preferred power consumption level recorded in thepreference field 240 (e.g., by the manufacturer) with another powerconsumption level that the user prefers.

For example, if the manufacturer has recorded the power consumptionlevel 3 as a preferred power consumption level in the preference field240, then the user may replace the recorded preferred power consumptionlevel with the power consumption level 1.

In the allowed operation combination field 250, the first to fourthcombinations of allowed operations, which are combinations of allowedoperations from among the operations that the washing machine mayperform, are listed.

Referring to FIG. 2, the allowed operation combination field 250includes the first to fourth combinations of allowed operations.

The first combination of allowed operations may be a combination of fullwashing/rinsing, full spin-drying, and full heat-drying from among aplurality of operations that the mashing machine may perform. Here, fullwashing/rinsing refers to strong washing/rinsing, full spin-dryingrefers to strong spin-drying, and full heat-drying refers to strongheat-drying.

The first combination of allowed operations includes more allowedoperations than the other combinations of allowed operations. Thus, theamount of power consumption and an operating time to perform the firstcombination of allowed operations are greater than those to perform theother combinations of allowed operations.

The second combination of allowed operations is a combination of fullwashing/rinsing and full spin-drying.

The third combination of allowed operations is a combination of fullwashing/rinsing and simple spin-drying. The third combination of allowedoperations may further include pausing.

Here, simple spin-drying refers to weak spin-drying, and pausing refersto temporarily stopping a full washing/rinsing or a simple spin-dryingthat is being performed.

The fourth combination of allowed operations includes standing by, inwhich the washing machine stands by after performing of a currentoperation is completed and any other subsequent operations from amongthe operations included in the first to third combinations of allowedoperations are not performed. In this case, it is assumed that it takesa minimum of 13 minutes to complete the performing of the currentoperation, and thus, a minimum operating time to perform the fourthcombination of allowed operations is set to 13 minutes. However, anotherexemplary embodiment is not limited thereto, and the minimum operatingtime may be set to be longer than or shorter than 13 minutes.

Furthermore, it is understood that the operation limiting informationaccording to another exemplary embodiment is not limited to the first tofourth combinations of allowed operations listed in the allowedoperation combination field 250 of FIG. 2. For example, according toanother exemplary embodiment, the allowed operation combination field250 may further include a combination of allowed operations that areperformed to turn off the washing machine.

Referring back to FIG. 1, in operation 120, power consumption levelscorresponding to the respective participating controlled devices aredetermined based on information regarding time-based price and theoperation limiting information.

The information regarding time-based price specifies a plurality of timeperiods and power rates allocated to the respective time periods whendifferent power rates are allocated to the time periods. For example, ifthe amount of power consumption in a time band from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00p.m. is greater than in the other times periods, then a power rateallocated to the time band from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. may be moreexpensive than those allocated to the other time periods and this factmay be reflected in the information regarding time-based price. In theinformation regarding time-based price, the power rates allocated to therespective time periods may be presented in the form of a continuousgraph or may be presented discretely.

The information regarding time-based price may be read from a storagedevice of the control device or may be periodically received from theoutside, e.g., a power supply company. For example, the informationregarding time-based price may be received in units of hours, days, ormonths.

The information regarding time-based price may be input directly to thecontrol device via an input device included in the control device.

In operation 130, the operations of the participating controlled devicesare controlled based on the determined power consumption levels.

More specifically, a participating controlled device having highpriority from among the participating controlled devices is controlledto operate according to a power consumption level corresponding to amaximum amount of power consumption from among a plurality of powerconsumption levels of the participating controlled device having highpriority. Also, participating controlled devices having the samepriority from among the participating controlled devices are controlledto operate according to the same power consumption level from amongpower consumption levels of the participating controlled devices havingthe same priority.

For example, if a washing machine having the operation limitinginformation of FIG. 2 has higher priority than other participatingcontrolled devices, then the washing machine may perform all of fullwashing/rinsing, full spin-drying, and full heat-drying according to thepower consumption level 1. However, in this case, a user may instructthe washing machine to selectively perform at least one from among fullwashing/rinsing, full spin-drying, and full heat-drying.

As described above, according to the current exemplary embodiment, theoperations of the participating controlled devices are controlled basedon power consumption levels thereof. Thus, it is possible to moreeffectively control power consumption of participating controlleddevices than in a related art method of controlling an amount of powerconsumption simply by turning on or off participating controlleddevices.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling theoperations of devices included in a network, according to an exemplaryembodiment. Referring to FIG. 3, in operation 310, information regardingtime-based price is received from the outside.

However, it is understood that another exemplary embodiment is notlimited thereto. For example, if a control device uses informationregarding time-based price stored in a storage unit thereof, operation310 may be omitted.

In operation 320, operation limiting information is received from eachparticipating controlled device.

In operation 330, a maximum rate of power that the participatingcontrolled devices can consume for a predetermined amount of time isdetermined.

For example, if a user desires to pay three hundred thousand won for apower rate per one month, the maximum power rate may be set to threehundred thousand won per month, though another exemplary embodiment isnot limited thereto and the maximum power rate may be determined inunits of days or years.

In operation 340, power consumption levels corresponding to therespective participating controlled devices are determined based on theinformation regarding time-based price, the operation limitinginformation, and the maximum power rate.

A method of determining a power consumption level of a participatingcontrolled device in operation 340, according to an exemplaryembodiment, will now be described.

First, if a user sets the maximum power rate to ten thousand won perday, then the control device calculates a maximum amount of powerconsumption pd that is allowed per day, which corresponds to the maximumpower rate, based on the information regarding time-based price.

Second, amounts of power consumption at a power consumption level atwhich participating controlled devices belonging to a network consumepower more than at the other power consumption levels are checked. Forexample, amounts of power consumption of the participating controlleddevices at the power consumption level 1 of FIG. 2 are checked.

Third, the checked amounts of power consumption are arranged indescending power order, based on priorities allocated to the respectiveparticipating controlled devices.

Fourth, an accumulated amount of power consumption is calculated byadding the arranged amounts of power consumption together. If theaccumulated amount of power consumption is less than or equal to themaximum amount of power consumption pd, then all the operations of theparticipating controlled devices are controlled according to the powerconsumption level 1. Otherwise, if the accumulated amount of powerconsumption is greater than the maximum amount of power consumption pd,power consumption levels of the respective participating controlleddevices are determined based on the priorities allocated to therespective participating controlled devices.

For example, if participating controlled devices A, B, C, D, and E arepresent in a network and an accumulated amount of power consumption ofthe participating controlled devices A, B, C, and D is less than orequal to the maximum amount of power consumption Pd when an amount ofpower consumption of the participating controlled device E is excluded,then the control device may determine a power consumption level thatallows the participating controlled device E to be turned off to be acurrent consumption level of the participating controlled device E fromamong power consumption levels of the participating controlled device E.

However, if priorities allocated to the respective participatingcontrolled devices A, B, and C are higher than those allocated to theparticipating controlled devices D and E and the priorities allocated tothe participating controlled devices D and E are the same, then thecontrol device may change current power consumption levels of theparticipating controlled devices D and E to be the power consumptionlevel 2 or 3, so that an accumulated amount of power consumption of theparticipating controlled devices A, B, C, D, and E is less than or equalto the maximum amount of power consumption Pd, without having to turnoff the participating controlled device E.

In another exemplary embodiment, current operating states of theparticipating controlled devices may be considered when powerconsumption levels of the respective participating controlled devicesare set. In this case, a highest priority may be allocated to aparticipating controlled device that is currently performing anoperation from among the participating controlled operations. Forexample, if a washing machine is currently performing a washingoperation, a highest priority may be allocated to the washing machine.In another exemplary embodiment, the control device may transmit a queryinquiring whether a current operating state or power consumption levelmay be changed on the participating controlled devices, may receivefeedback information regarding the query from the participatingcontrolled devices, and may change the power consumption levels of theparticipating controlled devices based on the feedback information.Here, the feedback information may include the current operating statesof the respective participating controlled devices, information as towhether the power consumption levels of the respective participatingcontrolled devices may be changed, amounts of power consumptioncorresponding to the respective power consumption levels, minimumoperating times corresponding to the power consumption levels, resultsof diagnosing hardware states of the respective participating controlleddevices by the participating controlled devices themselves,respectively.

Referring back to FIG. 3, in operation 350, operations of theparticipating controlled devices are controlled based on the determinedpower consumption levels.

As described above, a control device may control operations ofparticipating controlled devices when the control device and theparticipating controlled devices are present in a network. Furthermore,the control device may register a non-participating controlled device asa new participating controlled device with the network and may controlnot only an operation of the new participating controlled device butalso the operations of the existing participating controlled devices.

A method of registering a non-participating controlled device with anetwork according to an exemplary embodiment will now be described withreference to FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of registering anon-participating controlled device with a network, according to anexemplary embodiment. Referring to FIG. 4, in operation 410, anon-participating controlled device obtains a network identifier of thenetwork that includes participating controlled devices and a networkidentifier of at least another network.

Specifically, in operation 410, if the non-participating controlleddevice is powered on or a button of the non-participating controlleddevice is pressed, then the non-participating controlled device maysearch for the network that includes the participating controlleddevices and at least another network so as to obtain the networkidentifiers thereof.

If the non-participating controlled device has already been registeredwith another network and a button of the non-participating controlleddevice is pressed, then the non-participating controlled device maycancel the registration and search for other networks.

In another exemplary embodiment, the non-participating controlled devicemay obtain only the network identifier of the network that includes theparticipating controlled devices, from among network identifiers ofnetworks.

For example, the non-participating controlled device may receive thenetwork identifier of the network, which includes the participatingcontrolled devices, via an input device included in thenon-participating controlled device itself or from a detachable storagedevice that stores the network identifier and that is inserted into thenon-participating controlled device. Also, the non-participatingcontrolled device may read the network identifier of the network, whichincludes the participating controlled devices, from a storage devicethat includes a Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) module, via anRFID reader included in the non-participating controlled device itself.

By obtaining network identifiers, the non-participating controlleddevice may join a network that requires a network identifier thereof tobe used to establish a communication between devices belonging to thenetwork. For example, a ZigBee network allows only devices having thesame Personal Area Network Identifier (PANID) to communicate with oneanother.

In operation 420, the non-participating controlled device transmits ajoin request frame for requesting to join a network to a control device,based on the obtained network identifiers.

If in operation 410, the non-participating controlled device obtainedonly the network identifier of the network that includes theparticipating controlled devices, then the non-participating controlleddevice may transmit the join request frame to the control device, basedon the obtained network identifier.

If in operation 410, the non-participating controlled device obtainednot only the network identifier of the network that includes theparticipating controlled devices but also network identifiers of theother networks, then the non-participating controlled device maydetermine which network identifier is related to the network thatincludes the participating controlled devices from among the obtainednetwork identifiers.

Methods of allowing the non-participating controlled device to determinewhich network identifier is related to the network that includes theparticipating controlled devices from among the obtained networkidentifiers, according to one or more exemplary embodiments, will now bedescribed. Here, it is assumed that the network that includes theparticipating controlled devices is a preferred network.

In a first exemplary method, the non-participating controlled devicedetermines a network identifier of a network having a strongest networksignal from among detected networks to be a network identifier of apreferred network. This method is based on a fact that the strength of anetwork signal transmitted from a control device included in a preferredin-home network of a user is greater than those of network signals fromcontrol devices included in networks of other home networks. However, ifthe strength of a network signal from a control device in a network ofanother house is stronger than that of the network signal from thecontrol device in the preferred in-home network, then thenon-participating controlled device may transmit the join request frameto the network of the other house.

In a second exemplary method, in order to detect a network identifier ofa preferred network, the non-participating controlled device displaysnetwork identifiers of detected networks on a display unit included inthe non-participating controlled device itself, and a user selects anidentifier of a preferred network from among the displayed networkidentifiers

In a third exemplary method, the control device transmits a registrationstandby signal indicating that the control device itself is on stand byin order to receive the join request frame to the non-participatingcontrolled device and the non-participating controlled device detects anetwork identifier of a network to which this control device belongs, asa network identifier of a preferred network.

Although in the third exemplary method, the control device may transmitthe registration standby signal to the non-participating controlleddevice, the non-participating controlled device may more preciselydetect a network identifier of a preferred network without having toinclude additional devices.

If the non-participating controlled device detects a network identifierof a preferred network according to one of the above exemplary methods,then the non-participating controlled device may transmit the joinrequest frame to the preferred network by using the detected networkidentifier.

If the preferred network is a ZigBee network, only the control device inthe ZigBee network may receive a signal from the outside. Thus, the joinrequest frame that the non-participating controlled device transmits tothe preferred network is first transmitted to the control device.

In operation 430, the control device transmits a join response frameapproving the request to join a network to the non-participatingcontrolled device.

If the non-participating controlled device receives the join responseframe from the control device, the non-participating controlled devicemay join the preferred network.

In the current exemplary embodiment, even if the non-participatingcontrolled device joins the preferred network, an operation ofdetermining whether the non-participating controlled device is to beregistered with the preferred network is further performed. However, itis understood that another exemplary embodiment is not limited thereto.For example, in another exemplary embodiment, once the non-participatingcontrolled device joins the preferred network, the non-participatingcontrolled device may be registered directly with the preferred networkwithout performing this operation.

In operation 440, device information regarding the non-participatingcontrolled device is received from the non-participating controlleddevice. The device information may include information, for example,regarding at least one of a product model, product name, a manufacturingcompany, etc., of the non-participating controlled device.

In operation 450, a user interface via which a response as to whetherthe non-participating controlled device is to be registered with thenetwork is received from a user is output.

The user may check the information regarding at least one of the productmodel, product name, manufacturing company, etc., of thenon-participating controlled device via the user interface, and maydetermine whether the non-participating controlled device is to beregistered with the preferred network based on this information. Theuser interface may be a graphical user interface.

In operation 460, the response as to whether the non-participatingcontrolled device is to be registered with the network is received fromthe user via the user interface.

In operation 470, a registration informing frame indicating that thenon-participating controlled device has been registered with the networkis selectively transmitted to the non-participating controlled device,based on the received response.

More specifically, if the user inputs a response approving registrationof non-participating controlled device with the preferred network to theuser interface, then the registration informing frame is transmitted tothe non-participating controlled device. However, if the user inputs aresponse rejecting registration of the non-participating controlleddevice with the preferred network to the user interface, then arejection informing frame is transmitted to the non-participatingcontrolled device.

If the non-participating controlled device receives the rejectioninforming frame or does not receive the registration informing framewithin a predetermined amount of time after the join response frame wasreceived from the control device, then the non-participating controlleddevice may transmit the join request frame to a network other than thepreferred network.

If the non-participating controlled device has been registered with anetwork other than the preferred network, then the non-participatingcontrolled device may transmit a registration canceling frame forrequesting the registration to be canceled to the other network, and maytransmit the join request frame to the preferred network.

Until now, it is assumed that the control device or the participatingcontrolled devices are continuously powered on. However, in actuality,power may be cut off suddenly, for example, due to a power failure. Inorder to allow the control device to effectively control amounts ofpower consumption of the participating controlled devices, a method tominimize influences of a power cut-off that prevents the control deviceto control the operations of the participating controlled devices may beprovided.

To this end, the power consumption levels of the participatingcontrolled devices may be reset in consideration of an environmentalchange between before and after the power cut-off occurs. This will nowbe described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of allowing a control deviceto reset power consumption levels corresponding to respectiveparticipating controlled devices after a power cut-off occurs suddenly,according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 5, in operation 510, if the control device is poweredon, it is checked whether a power cut-off occurred suddenly right beforethe control device was powered on.

If it is determined in operation 510 that a power cut-off occurred, thenthe time when the power cut-off occurred may be checked and may bestored together with the time when the control device was powered onagain after the power cut-off.

In operation 520, if it is determined in operation 510 that the powercut-off occurred, then information on at least one of operation limitinginformation, a network identifier, identifiers of the respectiveparticipating controlled devices, times when the participatingcontrolled devices initially began to operate, respectively, final powerconsumption levels of the respective participating controlled devices,actual amounts of power consumption of the respective participatingcontrolled devices before the power cut-off occurred, an accumulatedamount of power consumption, i.e., the sum of the actual amounts ofpower consumption of the respective participating controlled devices,priorities allocated to the participating controlled devices,respectively, current operating states of the respective participatingcontrolled devices, and information regarding time-based price is reador received from at least one of a storage device of the control device,an external server, and the participating controlled devices.

In an exemplary embodiment, the control device searches the storagedevice thereof for the at least one piece of information, and searchesthe external server for the at least one piece of information. If the atleast one piece of information is not searched for, or discovered, fromboth the storage device of the control device and the external server,then the control device may request the participating controlled devicesto provide the at least one piece of information.

As described above, the control device may restore information that wasnot transmitted thereto or that was lost due to the power cut-off andmay obtain information to reset the power consumption levels of therespective participating controlled devices.

In order to perform operation 520, there may be a precondition that thecontrol device periodically store information, such as the at least onepiece of information, in the storage device thereof, the externalserver, or the like.

The control device may receive information in an encrypted form from theexternal server or the participating controlled devices so as to preventa third party from hacking the information during transmission of theinformation from the external server or the participating controlleddevices. In another exemplary embodiment, only portions of informationreceived from the external server or the participating controlleddevices may be encrypted.

In another exemplary embodiment, a join request frame and a joinresponse frame may be exchanged between the control device and theparticipating controlled devices so that the participating controlleddevices may be registered with a network that includes the controldevice, before the control device receives information from theparticipating controlled devices. However, in the current exemplaryembodiment, since the participating controlled devices are present inthe network that includes the control device, a user may not perform anoperation of determining whether the non-participating controlleddevices are to be registered with the network.

In operation 530, the power consumption levels corresponding to therespective participating controlled devices are reset based on the atleast one piece of information and the information regarding time-basedprice.

For example, if the control device is powered on again a long time aftera power cut-off occurred suddenly and the information regardingtime-based price is updated, then the power consumption levels of therespective participating controlled devices are to be reset.

In operation 540, after the power consumption levels of the respectiveparticipating controlled devices are reset, the control device controlsthe operations of the participating controlled devices based on thereset power consumption levels.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating participatingcontrolled devices according to power consumption levels thereof thatare reset after a power cut-off occurred suddenly, according to anexemplary embodiment. Referring to FIG. 6, in operation 610, if aparticipating controlled device is powered on, it is checked whether apower cut-off occurred suddenly right before the participatingcontrolled device is powered on.

If it is determined in operation 610 that the power cut-off occurredsuddenly, the time when the power cut-off occurred may be checked andinformation regarding the time when the power cut-off occurred and thetime when the participating controlled device is powered on again may bestored.

In operation 620, the participating controlled device reads from astorage device thereof at least one of information on a networkidentifier, times when the participating controlled devices initiallybegan to operate, respectively, final power consumption levels of therespective participating controlled devices, actual amounts of powerconsumption of the respective participating controlled devices beforethe power cut-off occurred, and an accumulated amount of powerconsumption, i.e., the sum of the actual amounts of power consumption ofthe respective participating controlled devices.

In order to perform operation 620, there may exist a condition that theparticipating controlled device periodically stores information, such asthe at least one piece of information, in the storage device thereof.

The storage device may be non-volatile memory, such as read-only memory(ROM), flash memory, or a hard disc, etc.

In operation 630, the participating controlled device transmits a joinrequest frame requesting to join a network to a control device.

In operation 640, the control device transmits a join response frameapproving the request to join the network to the participatingcontrolled device.

In operation 650, the control device requests the participatingcontrolled device to provide desired information from among the at leastone piece of information.

In operation 660, the participating controlled device transmits therequested information to the control device.

In operation 670, the participating controlled device receivesinformation regarding a power consumption level corresponding theretofrom the control device.

In operation 680, the participating controlled device performs anoperation based on the information regarding the power consumptionlevel.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an apparatus for controlling operations ofdevices, according to an exemplary embodiment. Referring to FIG. 7, theapparatus includes a receiver 710, a power consumption level selectionunit 720, and an operation control unit 730. The apparatus of FIG. 7 maybe the control device described above or may be included in the controldevice described above.

The receiver 710 receives operation limiting information from each ofthe participating controlled devices. The operation limiting informationincludes combinations of allowed operations from among operations thatthe participating controlled devices may perform, and power consumptionlevels that indicate relative amounts of power consumption of thecombinations of allowed operations.

The power consumption level selection unit 720 sets power consumptionlevels corresponding to the respective participating controlled devices,based on information regarding time-based price and the operationlimiting information.

The operation control unit 730 controls the operations of theparticipating controlled devices based on the set power consumptionlevels.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an apparatus for controlling operations ofdevices, according to another exemplary embodiment. Referring to FIG. 8,the apparatus includes a receiver 810, a power consumption levelselection unit 820, an operation control unit 830, a power cut-offchecking unit 840, a power rate setting unit 850, a transmission unit860, and a registration unit 870.

The operations of the receiver 810, the power consumption levelselection unit 820, and the operation control unit 830 are the same asor similar to those of the receiver 710, the power consumption levelselection unit 720, and the operation control unit 730 of FIG. 7,respectively.

If the apparatus of FIG. 8 is powered on, then the power cut-offchecking unit 840 checks whether a power cut-off occurred suddenly rightbefore the apparatus of FIG. 8 is powered on.

The power rate setting unit 850 sets a maximum rate of power that theparticipating controlled devices may consume for a predetermined amountof time. Specifically, a user may set the maximum power rate by usingthe power rate setting unit 850.

If the power rate setting unit 850 sets the maximum power rate, then thepower consumption level selection unit 820 sets power consumption levelscorresponding to the respective participating controlled devices, basedon information regarding time-based price, operation limitinginformation, and the maximum power rate.

If the receiver 810 receives a join request frame for requesting to joina network from one of the non-participating controlled devices, thetransmission unit 860 transmits a join response frame approving therequest to join the network to the non-participating controlled device.

The operation control unit 830 may control operations of theparticipating controlled devices by instructing the transmission unit860 to transmit the power consumption levels corresponding to therespective participating controlled devices to the participatingcontrolled devices, respectively.

The registration unit 870 registers a non-participating controlleddevice that is not included in a preferred network with the preferrednetwork. Also, the registration unit 870 may instruct the transmissionunit 860 to transmit the join response frame to the non-participatingcontrolled device.

In another exemplary embodiment, if a response approving registration ofthe non-participating controlled device with the network is receivedfrom a user via a user interface, then the registration unit 870 mayregister the non-participating controlled device with the network.

In an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus of FIG. 8 may further includean interface manager (not shown) for providing the user interface.

One or more of the above exemplary embodiments may be embodied as acomputer program. The computer program may be stored in a computerreadable recording medium, and executed using a general digitalcomputer. Examples of the computer readable medium include a magneticrecording medium (a ROM, a floppy disc, a hard disc, etc.), and anoptical recording medium (a CD-ROM, a DVD, etc.). Moreover, one or moreunits of the control device or the controlled device can include aprocessor or microprocessor executing a computer program stored in acomputer-readable medium

While exemplary embodiments have been particularly shown and describedabove, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art thatvarious changes in form and details may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present inventive concept asdefined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of operating by a device in a network,the method comprising: transmitting operation limiting informationcomprising a plurality of combinations of allowable operations fromamong operations that the device is capable of performing, a pluralityof amounts of power consumption to perform the plurality of combinationsof allowable operations, a plurality of minimum operating times toperform the plurality of combinations of allowable operations, and aplurality of power consumption levels that represent relative amounts ofpower consumption of the plurality of combinations of allowableoperations respectively; and receiving, from a control device, a controlsignal generated based on a power consumption level which is set inaccordance with information regarding time-based price and the operationlimiting information.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprisingregistering with the network if the device is not included in thenetwork, wherein the registering with the network comprises:transmitting, to the control device, a join request frame requesting tojoin the network; and receiving, from the control device, a joinresponse frame approving the request to join the network.
 3. The methodof claim 2, wherein the registering with the network further comprises:transmitting, to the control device, device information regarding thedevice; and receiving a registration informing frame indicating that thedevice has been registered, wherein the registration informing frame isgenerated based on the device information.
 4. The method of claim 2,wherein the device transmits the join request frame if the devicereceives an input of an identifier of the network or the identifier ofthe network.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the transmitting the joinrequest frame comprises transmitting the join request frame to a networkhaving a strongest network signal from among the network that includesthe at least one device and at least one other network.
 6. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the transmitting the join request frame comprisestransmitting the join request frame to a network that transmits aregistration standby signal to the device if it is non-participatingfrom among the network that includes the at least one device which isparticipating, and the registration standby signal indicates that thenetwork stands by to receive the join request frame.
 7. An apparatus foroperating in a network, the apparatus comprising: a processor configuredto perform: transmitting operation limiting information comprising aplurality of combinations of allowable operations from among operationsthat the apparatus is capable of performing, a plurality of amounts ofpower consumption to perform the plurality of combinations of allowableoperations, a plurality of minimum operating times to perform theplurality of combinations of allowable operations, and a plurality ofpower consumption levels that represent relative amounts of powerconsumption of the plurality of combinations of allowable operationsrespectively, and receiving, from a control device, a control signalgenerated based on a power consumption level which is set in accordancewith information regarding time-based price and the operation limitinginformation.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, the processor is furtherconfigured to perform registering with the network if the apparatus isnot included in the network, wherein the registering with the networkcomprises: transmitting, to the control device, a join request framerequesting to join the network; and receiving, from the control device,a join response frame approving the request to join the network.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 8, wherein the registering with the network furthercomprises: transmitting, to the control device, device informationregarding the apparatus; receiving a registration informing frameindicating that the apparatus has been registered, wherein theregistration informing frame is generated based on the deviceinformation.
 10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor isconfigured to transmit the join request frame if the processor receivesan input of an identifier of the network or the identifier of thenetwork.
 11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the transmitting the joinrequest frame comprises transmitting the join request frame to a networkhaving a strongest network signal from among the network that includesthe at least one apparatus and at least one other network.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 8, wherein the transmitting the join request framecomprises transmitting the join request frame to a network thattransmits a registration standby signal to the apparatus if it isnon-participating from among the network that includes the at least oneapparatus which is participating, and the registration standby signalindicates that the network stands by to receive the join request frame.13. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having recordedthereon a computer program for executing the method of claim 1.